Multispeciality Community Providers (MCPs)

Under this model, GP providers collaborate with community services and other providers. The GP Providers involved may initially collaborate amongst themselves as federations, networks or super-partnerships allowing for primary care to be provided at greater scale.

Where primary care is provided at a greater scale, there are potentially greater possibilities to recruit to a wider variety of specialisms ranging from social workers to psychologists, paediatricians to geriatricians to work alongside GPs in a more integrated manner. This may help to keep patients in the community, where clinically appropriate, and outside of the hospital.

NHS England published "The Multispecialty Community Provider (MCP) emerging care model and contract framework" (the Framework) in July 2016, which brings together features and lessons learned from the 14 MCP Vanguards into a high-level framework for future MCPs to work from. In summary, these features are:

General Practice must be at the heart of the MCP

MCPs must be procured in a transparent way, but this does not necessarily mean that procurement will involve multiple bidders. Contracts are anticipated to be for 10-15 year terms

MCPs can take a number of contractual forms, including a virtual, partially integrated and fully integrated model

A fully integrated model will involve the MCP holding a single, whole population budget for all the services it provides, including primary medical services

NHS England is discussing with DH an amendment to primary care legislation which would create a formal provision for commissioners to agree with GPs a suspension of GMS/PMS contracts for a defined period and a right of return